Translator: Nox

Chapter 1

1

I blinked several times to clear my hazy vision.

After barely getting up from the plush bed, I looked at the mirror hanging on the wall and saw...

Chubby hands like maple leaves.

Plump arms that looked like strings of frankfurter sausages.

Puffy, protruding cheeks.

A three-headed body that wouldn't move as I wanted.

This short, stubby body that looked like nothing but a four-year-old, even if you did a somersault to look at it.

I stared blankly at myself in the mirror and thought.

'Again, I've regressed again.'

To think I have to live this crappy life again!

My name is LeBlaine.

My life wasn't a mess from the start.

It was definitely lucky that I, an orphan, became the "Child of Destiny" because I was "the only child born on February 29th with Divine Power."

Because the Empress Dowager adopted me into a noble family for the sake of the outstanding title of Child of Destiny.

Sitting on the Empress Dowager's lap, I became the child of the family I chose simply by picking one of the portraits she held out.

There were three options in total.

1. The righteous warrior who protects the order of the empire, Duke Amitié.

2. Duke Valois of a prestigious family that has produced a thousand scholars.

3. Duke Dubled, who possesses mighty military power and wealth but is the villain of all villains.

In my first life, I chose the Amitié family.

I chose it without knowing anything with the mind of a complete baby, but Duke Amitié was a pretty good father.

He was a prudent, righteous, and rational person, and I respected and followed my new father.

Until then, it was a pretty peaceful life.

'Until Mina, the real Child of Destiny, appeared in this world.'

That's right. In fact, I was a fake Child of Destiny who came about because of a mistranslated oracle.

Unlike me, who trained for only three or four hours a day but couldn't properly manifest Divine Power, Mina was the perfect "Child of Destiny."

She could summon Spirits in times of drought and even prevent wars with her foresight.

Moreover, she, as bright as the sun, was loved by everyone.

Even my adoptive father, Duke Amitié.

It was as if her father's first love had given birth to a daughter between the two of them in another dimension, mixing them half and half.

Father and Mina were drawn to each other as if by fate. Eventually, with the help of the Papal State, Mina became Father's second daughter.

And I...

'I was sacrificed for Mina in the ritual to seal the Evil God.'

When I first regressed, I was happy. I thought it was a new life opportunity given by God.

In my second life, I chose Duke Valois.

And I got beaten by Duke Valois every single day.

That bastard was a real bad guy.

He beat me every day in the name of education with his hands as big as pot lids, but he only washed and dressed me up nicely when going to the Imperial Palace.

The last day of my second life was the same. I was beaten black and blue and hit my head on the corner of the desk, and when I opened my eyes, I had regressed again.

In my third life, I ran away.

But what could I do with the body of a baby? I joined a beggar gang and suffered all kinds of hardships before starving to death.

After three regressions, I realized in my fourth life.

'Yeah, this is hopeless. Let's defect.'

No sooner had I thought that than the door burst open and an elaborately dressed elderly woman entered.

She sat me on her lap and gestured. Soon, a maid brought three palm-sized portraits.

"It's time to choose your father."

She smiled very kindly.

But I know.

How cold these eyes become the moment it's revealed that I'm actually a fake.

The Empress Dowager stroked my fluffy hair and held out the portraits.

"Now, Child of Destiny. Choose."

I looked at the three portraits and felt frustrated, so I rubbed my eyes roughly with my chubby fists. And then I calmed myself.

'Let's calm down. I need a place to be anyway.'

I can't live as a beggar in a beggar gang and die like in my previous life.

A family where I can live quietly, just quietly, without worrying about starvation or dying far from home until I defect.

That's the kind of family I'm going to choose.

'Then this time-'

"Oh my."

The maid and the Empress Dowager, who saw the portrait I chose, widened their eyes.

I arrived at the family I was to be adopted into with the Empress Dowager's edict, and I swallowed hard when I saw the man who would be my father.

'He's really handsome.'

The man was a flamboyant beauty who seemed to make a day fly by just by looking at him.

A sharply cut, delicate jawline.

Sharp eyes with brilliant cyan blue pupils.

A neat nose and well-placed lips.

A firm body hidden by his shirt.

A tall height.

Broad, wide shoulders.

What was strange was that the eyes of this beautiful man were as fierce as those of a murderer.

It was the kind of gaze that would sting as if you had been hit in the crown of your head with a bamboo spear.

The man, who had been staring at me intently, finally opened his well-placed lips.

"Did they send me that chestnut to boil and eat?"

To put it bluntly, the one I chose was Duke Dubled, the villain of all villains.

'Actually, he was the mastermind in my first life.'

I wondered if I was going into another abyss, but the other options were too terrible.

The man's aide stood next to me and replied in a rather troubled tone.

"There was an imperial edict from the Empress Dowager requesting that you take care of the child."

Duke Dubled, who leisurely stroked his sharp chin with his long fingers, got up.

"She's senile."

Then he declared without a moment's hesitation.

"Send him back."

"But Your Grace, this is an opportunity to mend relations with the Order. Wouldn't it be complicated to reject the Empress Dowager's request outright?"

The aide was passionately trying to persuade him, but I shook my head inwardly.

'No. Aide, you're wrong.'

Even though I've never lived past the age of twenty, this is my fourth life.

Judging from my accumulated experience-

'Threats from the Empress Dowager or the Papal State won't work on him at all, will they?'

But that was a problem for me.

This is the only place where it's easy to run away after I've grown up to some extent.

Amitié, who prioritizes the greater good over the individual, or Valua, who values honor as much as life, wouldn't even give the "Child of Destiny" sent by the Empress Dowager a chance to escape.

This man, who has no interest in me, is the perfect stepfather.

'So, is there only one way?'

I patted the aide's pants with both hands.

"December 7th, unannounced tax audit."

The eyes of the two men focused on me at once.

"Excuse me?"

The aide didn't seem to understand me. He just looked flustered by the sudden babbling.

I felt like banging my chest.

'Ah, this immature body.'

It's already a difficult pronunciation, but my tongue isn't working properly because it hasn't been long since I regressed.

This was my trump card.

I had definitely seen it in my previous lives.

That there would be an unannounced tax audit targeting Dubled this winter.

Of course, Dubled, the prestigious family of tax evasion, paid a huge fine.

The Duke has three sons, so I thought he might understand. Even if my pronunciation is slurred, people who have dealt with children a lot tend to understand quite well.

But I had hope and quickly gave up.

There's no way that cold-blooded man raised his successors himself, right? He wouldn't understand, would he?

'If only I could write. But there's no way I can handle a pen properly when my speech is so immature- Ugh!'

In the blink of an eye, Duke Dubled picked me up.

I was so scared when I felt the sharpness in his sharp eyes right in front of me that I almost peed my pants.

"Did you say there's an unannounced tax audit on December 7th?"

...How did he understand?

I felt a sense of wonder, but that wasn't the problem.

I was worried that he might find me disgusting for not acting like a child, so I tried to act as innocent as possible.

"Uh-huh. Shh, I said it's a secret."

"Noth."

Duke Dubled turned to his aide.

The aide, who had been a little embarrassed to see us, quickly composed himself and replied.

"Yes."

"How far along is the ledger?"

"What... It's the words of a four-year-old child. Do you really believe it?"

"Is it believable that a four-year-old baby knows the words 'unannounced tax audit'?"

"...I will check immediately."

With that answer, the aide quickly ran out of the room.

The Duke and I, who were left in the room, looked at each other.

'He's really scary...'

I was wondering why he had remained celibate for the rest of his life after losing his wife with this appearance, this wealth, and this power, but this must be why.

'It must have been hard for women to approach him because he's so scary.'

He strode over and pulled the bell cord. Soon, a woman in a maid's uniform entered.

The Duke gestured indifferently at me and said.

"He smells like a mangy pony."

"Shall I help the young master with his bath?"

"Yes."

The woman bent down while holding me, and I hung loosely around the woman's neck and left the room.